Memphis and Tennessee both experienced a decline in their per-game home attendance numbers last season, according to figures released by the NCAA.

Memphis had a 2.8 percent decrease in per-game attendance from 2016 to 2017 (37,346 in 2016 for seven home games to 36,302 in eight home games). That’s a slight dip compared to Tennessee, whose average attendance dropped by more than 5,000 last season.

The Vols had a per-game attendance of 95,779 last season, a 5.14 percent decrease from 2016, when they averaged 100,968 per game. Tennessee still ranked No. 7 among FBS schools in total attendance.

The declines were part of a bigger trend with FBS schools having their largest drop in per-game attendance in 34 years. The average per-game attendance in 2017 was 42,203, which was 1,409 fewer than the 2016 season.

Vanderbilt had a slight increase in attendance from 31,242 per game to 31,341 last season with seven home games (0.32 percent). Middle Tennessee State had a 9.41 percent decline in per-game attendance in 2017 (17,243 in 2016 to 15,620).

Austin Peay had the greatest leap in per-game attendance of any school in the state with a 36.37 percent jump (6,117 to 8,342)

Memphis attendance breakdown

Memphis’ decline is not that steep compared to others around the country. The Tigers had two games of less than 20,000 in attendance because of severe weather conditions. And the NCAA counted the Liberty Bowl against Iowa State as a home game despite Memphis listing it as a neutral site game.

The Tigers drew 57,266 for the Liberty Bowl on Dec. 30, but their largest regular-season crowd last year was UCLA on Sept. 16, which attracted 46,291 fans.

Memphis’ decrease in average attendance fell in line with the American Athletic Conference experiencing the largest decline in per-game attendance among FBS conferences. Average attendance among AAC schools dropped from 31,611 per game to 28,669, a 9.31 percent decrease.

Tennessee part of larger SEC attendance decline

The SEC had the second-largest decline among FBS conferences, going from averaging 77,507 fans per game in 2016 to 75,074 last year (3.14 percent).

For Tennessee, it was the first time since 2014 that it averaged fewer than 100,000 fans per game and its lowest per-game attendance since 2013, when it had 95,584 fans per game.

Vanderbilt’s increase in 2017 per-game attendance erased four consecutive years of decline since drawing an average of 37,860 fans in 2012.

Of the top five conferences in average attendance (SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, ACC), only the Big Ten saw an increase from 2016 (66,151 to 66,227). The AAC and SEC had the largest declines in average fans per game among the 10 major conferences.

Middle Tennessee State averaged 19,024 fans in 2010 but experienced a decline in all but two seasons since then.

After FBS schools averaged 45,671 fans per game in 2013, the per-game attendance has declined for five consecutive seasons. Growing costs of tickets and concessions plus the rise in streaming games online are among the factors why more fans seem to be staying home.